First principles studies of multiferroic materials.
نویسندگان
چکیده
Multiferroics, materials where spontaneous long-range magnetic and dipolar orders coexist, represent an attractive class of compounds, which combine rich and fascinating fundamental physics with a technologically appealing potential for applications in the general area of spintronics. Ab initio calculations have significantly contributed to recent progress in this area, by elucidating different mechanisms for multiferroicity and providing essential information on various compounds where these effects are manifestly at play. In particular, here we present examples of density-functional theory investigations for two main classes of materials: (a) multiferroics where ferroelectricity is driven by hybridization or purely structural effects, with BiFeO(3) as the prototype material, and (b) multiferroics where ferroelectricity is driven by correlation effects and is strongly linked to electronic degrees of freedom such as spin-, charge-, or orbital-ordering, with rare-earth manganites as prototypes. As for the first class of multiferroics, first principles calculations are shown to provide an accurate qualitative and quantitative description of the physics in BiFeO(3), ranging from the prediction of large ferroelectric polarization and weak ferromagnetism, over the effect of epitaxial strain, to the identification of possible scenarios for coupling between ferroelectric and magnetic order. For the second class of multiferroics, ab initio calculations have shown that, in those cases where spin-ordering breaks inversion symmetry (e.g. in antiferromagnetic E-type HoMnO(3)), the magnetically induced ferroelectric polarization can be as large as a few µC cm(-2). The examples presented point the way to several possible avenues for future research: on the technological side, first principles simulations can contribute to a rational materials design, aimed at identifying spintronic materials that exhibit ferromagnetism and ferroelectricity at or above room temperature. On the fundamental side, ab initio approaches can be used to explore new mechanisms for ferroelectricity by exploiting electronic correlations that are at play in transition metal oxides, and by suggesting ways to maximize the strength of these effects as well as the corresponding ordering temperatures.
منابع مشابه
Spin-orbit Coupling Effects in Multiferroic Bi2FeCrO6
For application in integrated sensors or devices, functional materials are used in the form of thin films. Ferroelectricity and many other properties of multiferroic materials, such as the magnetocrystalline anisotropy, are strongly related to the material crystal structure. Because fundamental physics of multiferroic materials is rich, theoretical studies are of great importance, since it is e...
متن کامل8 SCIENTIFIC HIGHLIGHT OF THE MONTH: First Principles Studies of Multiferroic Materials First Principles Studies of Multiferroic Materials
Multiferroics, materials where spontaneous long-range magnetic and dipolar orders coexist, represent an attractive class of compounds, which combine rich and fascinating fundamental physics with a technologically appealing potential for applications in the general area of spintronics. Ab-initio calculations have significantly contributed to recent progress in this area, by elucidating different...
متن کاملFirst-principles study on the phase diagram and multiferroic properties of (SrCoO3)1/(SrTiO3)1 superlattices
To design a multiferroic material at atomic scale, strong spin-lattice and charge-lattice couplings play crucial roles. Our first-principles calculation on (SrCoO3)1/(SrTiO3)1 superlattices, with above coupling properties, yields a rich physical phase diagram as a function of epitaxial strain. In particular, a robust ferroelectric ferromagnetic insulator of Pc symmetry is stabilized at tensile ...
متن کاملThe Effect of Europium Doping on the Structural and Magnetic Properties of GdMnO3 Multiferroic Ceramics
Single phase Eu doped GdMnO3 ceramics were prepared using solid state reaction route. Several different characterization techniques were used to investigate the structural and magnetic properties of the samples, including X-Ray Diffraction (XRD), Scanning Electron Microscopy (SEM), Energy Dispersive Spectroscopy (EDX) and Vibrating Sample Magnetometer (VSM). All samples indicated single p...
متن کاملEntanglement and manipulation of the magnetic and spin–orbit order in multiferroic Rashba semiconductors
Entanglement of the spin-orbit and magnetic order in multiferroic materials bears a strong potential for engineering novel electronic and spintronic devices. Here, we explore the electron and spin structure of ferroelectric α-GeTe thin films doped with ferromagnetic Mn impurities to achieve its multiferroic functionality. We use bulk-sensitive soft-X-ray angle-resolved photoemission spectroscop...
متن کاملOrigin of ferroelectricity in the multiferroic barium fluorides BaMF4: A first principles study
We present a first-principles study of the series of multiferroic barium fluorides with the composition BaMF4, where M is Mn, Fe, Co, or Ni. We discuss trends in the structural, electronic, and magnetic properties, and we show that the ferroelectricity in these systems results from the freezing in of a single unstable polar phonon mode. In contrast to the case of the standard perovskite ferroel...
متن کاملذخیره در منابع من
با ذخیره ی این منبع در منابع من، دسترسی به آن را برای استفاده های بعدی آسان تر کنید
برای دانلود متن کامل این مقاله و بیش از 32 میلیون مقاله دیگر ابتدا ثبت نام کنید
ثبت ناماگر عضو سایت هستید لطفا وارد حساب کاربری خود شوید
ورودعنوان ژورنال:
- Journal of physics. Condensed matter : an Institute of Physics journal
دوره 21 30 شماره
صفحات -
تاریخ انتشار 2009